A week in Germany

Our week in Germany began in Berlin. We did not know that the national holidays for Germany, celebrating the reunification of East and West Germany, were October 2 and 3 (Germany was reunified in 1990), but this explained a lot of kids out of school on that Monday and closed grocery stores on Tuesday, and also framed a lot of the history we discussed and considered. This week has been very rainy, which pushed us into some different sightseeing options. I noticed we were a bit more tired, and I caught the worst cold I have had in years--I never thought I'd be the first one using some of the medicines I had packed back in MN.

This week we stayed in three A&O Hostels, which are bare-bones hotels popular with younger travelers, school groups, and families throughout Germany. The kids had to make up their own beds upon arrival, but we had plenty of space and our own bathroom--but no room service, for sure! One of the first things I noticed on our trip from the train station was the type of building we were passing--large, blocky apartment complexes, very practical, no architectural extras. Then, in looking at the Berlin map, I realized: we were in former East Berlin. Former East Germany. I was in an area that, during my high school years, I would not have been permitted to travel. These apartment buildings were most likely built rapidly in the years following the reunification.

The Berlin Wall. For Gen Xers like Scott and me, much of our political consciousness during our formative years were filled with stories of the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain. The dismantling of the Wall beginning in 1989 marked a huge new chapter in geopolitics for this region and instantly rendered my whole knowledge of eastern European borders as antiquated.

Monday began with a rather lacking breakfast at Burger King (quality is not steady worldwide; we will not trust one of these again for a while) we made our way downtown for a walking tour towards the Brandenburg Gate. We passed the beautiful Berlin Dome, Museum Island, and the Reichstag building, housing the German parliament. A festival was going on around the Gate and we decided to return at night. We visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was powerful in its minimalist design of concrete slabs forming a labyrinth. On the heels of the Anne Frank House it has provided a lot of context for our kids to begin to appreciate the depth of the WW2 conflict. After that, the rain set in...so we went to the new (2015) Berlin Mall. The architecture of the mall is unusual--it is split into the East Mall and the West Mall with an arched corridor between, reminiscent of the city itself. Verra nice. There was a slide that went down all three floors of the mall and both kids had to try it out. Scott was also busted by the Playmobil cops at the door. We have yet to learn what his infraction was beyond the baseball cap.
That night we went back to the Brandenburg Gate, which was lit up with 3-D projections for the celebrations, and there was a free concert with Mark Forster (he's a judge on "The Voice in Germany").

Tuesday Harley chose where we went in the morning, and we headed to the western side of the city, passing the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (left damaged after WW2 as a visible reminder) to go to the Berlin Zoo (recommended by his good friend Caden). Excellent bird exhibits, hippos, rhinos, zebras, hyenas, and giant pandas (giant status debatable). We also checked out Checkpoint Charlie, and saw a section of the Wall. Four governments divided control of the city after WW2--American, British, French, and Soviet, wow. Throughout the city now there is a double row of stones in the pavement showing where the Wall stood. Berlin today looks like it is doing well, with a lot of great momentum, and some ever-present reminders of where it has been.

We drove to Dresden, also formerly in East Germany, Tuesday afternoon in our rental Ford Focus. I think Scott was really enjoying

the lack of the speed limit on the Autobahn--even with the km to miles conversion his speed was hitting triple digits. So why Dresden? I found pictures of Saxony Switzerland National Park online and thought we needed to visit.

Wednesday we did just that--beautiful, and I am so glad the rain held off. The bridge pictured is the Bastei Bridge in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. There is evidence people have been in this area for centuries, and the bridge itself is 200 years old.

We actually didn't do too much touring in Dresden itself. The city was bombed during WW2 and much of the city center was leveled, but it has been rebuilt in the baroque style. We did find some excellent schnitzel at the restaurant aptly named Schnizz.

Thursday we began our drive to Munich, and stopped overnight in Nuremberg. Beautiful city center, and we enjoyed just walking around.

Friday we made it to Munich, the Bavarian capital. I had been here before for a conference and I think Munich remains my favorite city in Germany. We visited the Munich Residenz, the former palace of king of Bavaria; one family line ruled the area for 700 years. The grotto below is made from shells. The Treasury contained crowns and jewels from the past 1000 years and some interesting sacred relics--apparently including the bones or a hand of a saint in your gold relic was a thing.

Saturday we began at the BMW Museum--lots of nice-looking cars! I finally found out what BMW stands for (Bayerische Motor Works). We continued on to the English Gardens, Munich's version of Central Park. One interesting thing in the park is a surfing wave in the river, and we watched some skilled locals wearing wetsuits surfing the waves while we shivered in our coats. We watched the Glockenspiel (fancy clock with dancing figures) in Marienplatz and called it a day. Now we are headed to Vienna on a train--we splurged for first class this time, very comfy--and we are looking forward to a bit of stability for a little while. Hope you all are well.